The surge in COVID-19 cases affecting Quebec has made inroads in the National Assembly, where a parliamentary committee was canceled earlier this week. As of Tuesday, nine elected officials, including the Prime Minister, were forced to absent themselves from the corridors of parliament.
Including François Legault, seven members of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) are currently in isolation. Both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel, and the deputies Sébastien Schneeberger, Stéphanie Lachance and Lise Lavallée have received positive test results in the last few days. Two other ministers are forced into preventive isolation.
This had the effect of postponing the detailed analysis of Bill 22 “amending the Automobile Insurance Act”, which was to continue during the week. It was François Bonnardel who tabled the legislation. “The minister must be present for the commissions,” dropped his press secretary Claudia Loupret on Tuesday morning.
For the moment, only this commission has been postponed, said the press secretary of the leader of the government, Élisabeth Gosselin. In the morning, the study of bills on the student protector and on the abandonment of hydrocarbons continued as planned.
Anywhere in parliament
The CAQ is not alone in having seen COVID-19 infiltrate its caucus. According to a spin made by The duty Tuesday with all the parliamentary groups, two other deputies will miss the next days of work because of positive tests: they are the liberal Christine St-Pierre and the solidarity Émilise Lessard-Therrien.
“I feel good and I will follow the health instructions to the letter,” wrote the first on Twitter when getting her result. “I understand that these are mild symptoms,” said Tuesday morning the press secretary responsible for the work of the Chamber in the Liberal Party, Alexandra Régis.
As for Ms. Lessard-Therrien, “she will redo rapid tests regularly and we hope that she can be back as soon as possible”, indicated Quebec solidaire.
The Parti Québécois does not currently recognize any absence related to COVID-19. Since mid-March, the rolling average of COVID cases has doubled, according to data from Quebec’s National Institute of Public Health.
Since the return to the House on March 15, the Blue Room can sit at full capacity, or 125 deputies, with the green light from Public Health. Parliamentarians are required to wear a mask at all times, except when speaking. Committee work has also resumed as normal.
The elected members of the National Assembly have planned nine weeks in their calendar before the adjournment of work. When they leave the compound in June, they will do so for one last time before the election.
The government has put about 20 bills on the order paper this session. And nothing prevents him from filing others. QS health spokesman Vincent Marissal fears a traffic jam.
In health, “it wasn’t me who blocked the pipe. They put so many bills in at once that they blocked the funnel,” he said in a scrum in parliament. “Why, after three and a half years in power, are they coming up with a host of bills and reforms? »